Located in an area with a strong inter-ethnic and inter-confessional character, Babeș-Bolyai University has adopted multiculturalism as its main direction of development, having in its ranks students and teaching staff of Romanian, Hungarian and German ethnicity. The Cluj University stands on the support of a long evolution of attempts to establish a higher education institution in Transylvania - an attractive area for Western Europeans and an arena of political and religious confrontations, related to the history of our continent. Babeș-Bolyai University is the oldest academic institution in Romania that has assumed the entire academic tradition from Transylvania, inaugurated through the Jesuit College established in Cluj by Prince Báthory Ștefan in 1581. Universitatea Babeș-Bolyai este cea mai veche instituție academică din România care și-a asumat întreaga tradiție academică din Transilvania, inaugurată prin Colegiul iezuit înființat la Cluj de principele Báthory Ștefan în 1581.

Babeș-Bolyai University synthesises the entire cultural, scientific, and confessional tradition of Transylvania, developing a multicultural and multilingual educational program in accordance with the laws in force in Romania and in accordance with European values. The mentioned development involved many decisions of crucial importance and radically new initiatives regarding the organisation of studies, the development of scientific research, the extension of services to the community, the modernisation of the infrastructure, the creation of the advanced communication network, the involvement of Babeș-Bolyai University in the democratisation of Romania.